Thursday, July 05, 2007

Jurcina, Laich Elect Arbitration

Milan Jurcina and Brooks Laich, both restricted free agents, have elected to take the team to arbitration, meaning that in each case, both sides will lay out their case before an impartial third party who will then decide the compensation for the player (that is, of course, unless the team and the player agree to a deal beforehand).

Given the salaries we've seen this past week and what Jerky and Laich have accomplished to date as NHLers, what do you think they're worth?

Tyler - I tend to agree, but how much of a "win" can a guy who scored 8 goals and added 10 assist in 73 games have? He made $666,710 last year. I can't see an award for more than $850,000, and that's on the crazy side of things.

Gary - under the current CBA, only players age 35 and up (I believe) and guys on their rookie contracts are eligible for any incentives, so Laich's contract can't have any.

1) More than likely both will sign before the process. Of the two, Jurcina would seem to be the one who the Caps may want to sign to a multi year deal at a reasonable salary. 2) As for Laich, he should be happy with a one way deal at about the league minimum. How hard would it be to find a replacement for his 8 goals?

I don't think the Caps did anything but qualify Laich and Jurcina. The two players probably opted for it simply because this is the deadline to do so, and they want to have that option in case. This is more of an indicator that they think they're worth more than their qualifying raise. Most likely, they'll be signed before arbitration. That's what happened last year.